THE NIGHT AFTER CHRISTMAS EVE

It's official.  All the presents are unwrapped and Santa is back at the North Pole. Christmas 2011 is about to come to an abrupt end at midnight.  Next Christmas is never farther away than at this precise moment.  I've got 365 days to pay off the bills for this year's extravaganza and save up for the next installment of the great event in 2012.  

Of course that will depend on the Mayans and the accuracy of their doomsday calendar. If they are right I will have saved up to celebrate Christmas 2012 and the whole world thing will be over before the next Christmas has a chance to strike.

Has anyone warned Santa?

BONDS...BARRY BONDS

I grew up loving baseball and hoping someday to hit more home runs than anyone ever had. We played home run derby every day in the summer and I'm sure I achieved my goal unofficially. Babe Ruth was our hero and seemed almost untouchable in the number of home runs he hit in his career.  That didn't mean players didn't try.  I have lived through four successful attempts to break the all-time home run records set by Babe Ruth of 60 in a single season in 1927 and 714 lifetime round trippers. 

The first was in 1961when Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle vied to break the Babe's 60 home runs in a single season record. Roger Maris finally did it on the last day of the regular season ending up with 61 home runs and asterisk by his name in the record book (since removed) because his 61 homers were accomplished in  162 games and Ruth set his record in 156 games. 

The second attempt at dethroning Ruth was when Hank Aaron strove to move ahead of Babe Ruth's 20 seasons lifetime total of 714 home runs.  He accomplished this on April 8, 1974 on his way to slamming 755 four baggers in 23 big league seasons.

The third was the race between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa in 1998 as they attempted to surpass Ruth's 60 and Roger Maris's 61single-season home run record.  Both of them did with McGwire hitting 70 that year and Sosa hitting 65.

Then along came Barry Bonds. In 2001 he hit 73 home runs in a single-season. Astounding! I was caught up in the excitement, the drama, all the intentional walks he had to go through to hit those 73 home runs.

Then came the accusations of performance-enhancing drugs used by McGwire, Sosa, and Bonds along with many other major league baseball players.  What they did was kill the enjoyment I had for the game.  How can anyone beat their records without stooping to the same tactics they used?  Their records are tainted as is the entire sport of baseball.  They deserved to have the book thrown at them.

Well it's been eight years since the federal government began its efforts to pin charges of perjury on Barry Bonds for his denial under oath of using steroids. Now we have the verdict and the punishment for his alleged crimes:
     1. Thirty days of house arrest in his luxury home. (Yes that's 30 whole days)  
      2. Two hundred and fifty (250) hours of community service. (That's an additional 10 1/2 days) 
      3. A whopping $4,000 dollar fine. ( That is   0.00002083333 percent of the 192 million he made while playing baseball)

If Roger Clemens had pitched to Barry Bonds and he had hit a towering blast where the ball cleared the stadium fence and came down on top of the head of a pit bull handled by Michael Vick knocking it senseless, then maybe the punishment would have been commensurate with the crime .

COLD ENOUGH

  I finally got it cold enough in my house. The thermostat is constant battlefield between my wife and I.  She is always too cold and I am always too warm.  She pushes the temperature up. I come behind her and lower the setting. Summer and Winter the war continues unabated. I don't think this is anything different than what happens in most homes.  Mars wants to be cold; Venus wants to bewarm.

  Today it is a little different.  Due to a recent cold snap the pipes that remove excess water caused by the functioning of our new furnace froze solid.  Don't ask me how furnaces can produce water or how pipes that are routed through the attic can become cold enough to freeze but they do and did.  As a result the temperature in the house is now a cozy 64 degrees. 

   Luckily my spouse has been out shopping most of the morning and has missed the excellent temperatures I have been basking in.  I will admit that the tips of my nose and fingers are a bit cold even with the scarf and gloves I am wearing.

                                             (I may have made up the part about the scarf and gloves.)

THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR--PART 2

I fear I came across as a total Ebenezer Scrooge in my last post so I thought I would set the record straight and list some of the things I enjoy about the holiday season:

1. The excitement of children as they wait for the big day to arrive be it Halloween, Thanksgiving or Christmas.

2. Seeing the light in the eyes of my grandchildren as they show us the costumes they will be waring on Halloween.

3. Hearing that excitement when costume clad youngsters sing out at our front door, "Trick or Treat. Smell my feet.  Give me something good to eat."

4. Seeing the enjoyment of family and friends as they devour an exceptional meal that has been prepared with love and care by my wife. (Especially the home made rolls and pies)


5. Left over turkey, dressing, and cranberry sauce squished between two halves of a roll.


6. The feeling of satisfaction I have when the last section of Christmas tree lights finally flickers on after hours of replacing burned out bulbs.


7. Judiciously chosen popular and religious Christmas music.

8. Watching my grandchildren see the tree for the first time each year.

9. Seeing their glowing faces as they circle the decorated Christmas tree trying to find where the ornament with their name on it has been placed this year.

10. The innocence on the faces of the toddlers as they bring into the family room an ornament they have taken from the tree, explaining they, "Only wanted to touch it."

11.Quiet moments when I'm alone in the front room when the lights are out, except for those on the tree, and the magical feeling of peace it brings just to look at the sparkling decorations.

12. Watching the Christmas Story Pageant my grandchildren put on for us as the scriptures are read and they act out the parts of Joseph and Mary, Shepherds, Angels and Wise Men.
 
13. The joy on the faces of children and adults as they open Christmas gifts.

14. Contemplating the true meaning of Christmas and realizing that it is good for the world to remember the Savior's birth even if it is celebrated at the wrong time of year.  

15. The hope the season brings:  

• that winter will not last forever.
• that there is always a chance mankind will live up to the spirit of the season.
• that there is a possibility for peace on earth.

SEASONS GREETINGS